Cotey Gallagher: an eye for art

Artist Cotey Gallagher of Salisbury is passionate equally about art and humor. The self-described “perfectionist” and young commercial artist—who has illustrated everything from children’s books and English-as-a-second-language language textbooks to personal art commissions and high-tech articles appearing in geeky, national computer magazines—believes that art should be an equal blend of hard work, detail and fun.

Gallagher, who was born in Vermont, began doodling and drawing at an early age. Thanks to her parents, who nurtured her natural talent while she was a student enrolled at the Salisbury Elementary School, Gallagher was able to pursue her passion and demonstrate a keen eye for the world around her. From Boston to New York City and back to Vermont, art remains at the core of Gallagher’s life. Art, according to the artist, even if it’s a Hollywood celebrity caricature, should reflect something deeper than what meets the eye—she calls it the soul of the work.

While in her senior year at Middlebury Union High School in 1996, Gallagher (nee Cote) received a Merit Scholarship to attend the Art Institute of Boston, now a part of Leslie University College of Art and Design.

Upon graduation in 2000, the budding artist received the institute’s prestigious “Best in Department Award” for overall work completed during her four-year tenure (the art equivalent of magna cum laude honors).

“I get my inspiration from many things including fine art as well as commercial art,” said Gallagher. “But I especially love commercial art; it makes an everyday connection with people. That’s why I love the late Norman Rockwell—his eye for simple details and his wry sense of humor,” she said. “I also love Mad Magazine artist Mort Drucker and of course the late caricaturist Al Hirschfeld of Broadway fame.” Humor and art, we might add, make a potent pair.

Gallagher’s art has gone through several evolutionary stages—from dabbling in recording album-cover art work to spot-on celebrity caricatures and even editorial cartoons.

“I did some character drawings for two books by Port Henry, N.Y., author and poet Jean Arleen Breed,” Gallagher added. “She also wrote a poetry book about the Lake Champlain Bridge. I met her at a craft fair that we both attended. I happen to make hand-painted ornaments and sell them at craft fairs.”

Recently, Gallagher stepped into the world of publishing by illustrating the “Hello Green Mountains” children’s book series written by Ashley Charron (profiled in the Eagle recently).

After the ‘Hello Green Mountains’ series wraps up, shel’ll be focusing more on her own children’s book, titled “Have You Ever Seen?”

“You must know that I am a word nerd—an old Mad Libs word game fan—so I thought it would be fun to get young people stimulated by getting funny and creative with the English language,” Gallagher said.

“Have You Ever Seen?” is a deliciously clever book that young children will enjoy; they will find plenty of giggle material between the covers.

Gallagher’s Lewis Carroll-like illustrations in “Have You Ever Seen?” depict outrageous alliterations such as: “A soda sipping salamander,” “ogling an octopus operating on an ox,” and “witnessing a worried walrus waving at a woman named Wanda,” as well as lots more alliteative illustrations.

So, what does an artist like Gallagher do when it comes time to relax and replenish the creative juices?

“Well, I am always sketching, not just in my stuio but all around th ehouse. But when I want to enjoy the Vermont outdoors in the spring and summer, I enjoy vegetable gardening and landscaping with my husband Josh and son Gage, who’s in the third grade.”

When best-selling author-entrepreneur Seth Godin one wrote that, “Art is not in the eye of the beholder; it’s in the soul of the artist,” he must have been referring to Cotey Gallagher.